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Description
Dorsal spines (total): 7-8; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10-11, third and fourth spines longest, reaching to spine of second dorsal fin when depressed, all rays branched, posterior element of last ray branched or unbranched; Anal spines: 1; Anal soft rays: 8-9, all rays branched except posterior element of last ray, which may be branched or unbranched; Pectoral fin rays: 17-19, uppermost and lowermost rays usually unbranched, number of branched rays increasing with size, fin reaching posteriorly to a vertical with base of first anal-fin ray; Pelvic fin rays: 1 + 5, no fraenum, full basal membrane, fifth ray 80 % of fourth, which reaches posteriorly to the urogenital papilla, first four rays with sequential branching, first three rays with up to seven branch points, fourth with six, fifth with two or three dichotomous branch points; Lateral line scales: 27-31; Depth of body: 3.8-4.6 in SL. Cycloid scales on pectoral base and prepelvic area, others ctenoid. Mouth terminal, inclined obliquely upwards. Teeth in both jaws of an inner and outer series of curved, enlarged, spaced canines separated by several irregular rows of small conical teeth. Tongue truncately rounded. Anteroventral margin of gill opening to below vertical limb of preopercle. Gill rakers: 3-4 + 12-14. Anterior nasal opening a short tube, posterior opening a pore with a raised rim partially adnate to anterior margin of eye, nasal sac elevated. Bony interorbital about half pupil diameter, no trough or trench. Max. length: 7.0 cm FL. Depth range: 1 - 70 m, usually: 1 - 30 m.

Color
Ground color whitish and crossed by vertical bars, which may vary from yellow-brown to dark brown, are usually lighter on head, and frequently have edges darker than centre. First bar anterior to eye; two bars through eye; One across posterior cheek; One across posterior opercle/pectoral base; Seven across body (two across base of first dorsal fin, two and a half across base of second dorsal fin, two and a half on caudal peduncle); Three vague bars formed of dark spots on caudal fin. Pelvic fins hyaline, other fins sprinkled with melanophores, chromatophores, and iridocytes. First dorsal fin usually with a dark black basal spot on membrane between first four spines.

Etymology
Priolepis: from Greek, prion, -onos = saw + from Greek, lepis = a scale of a fish. Referring to ctenoid scales on body.
cincta: from Latin, cinctum = a girdle, a belt. Name given in reference to the banded color pattern of this species.
Original description: Gobiomorphus cinctus Regan, 1908 - Type locality: Salomon Atoll, Chagos Archipelago, Indian Ocean.

Distribution
Red Sea, Indo-West Pacific: Seychelles, Comoros, Madagascar, Mascarenes and Persian Gulf east to Fiji and Tonga, north to southern Japan and Ogasawara Islands, south to Western Australia, Elizabeth and Middleton reefs, and New Caledonia.

Biology
Hides in caves and crevices, also among corals or rock. Benthic spawner. Bi-directional sex change was proposed for this species. Monogamous mating is observed as both obligate and social. 

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Last update: 1, January 2023